#035: This week on A Novel Bunch, we’re cracking open A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas with Chapters 1–9, a raw, brutal, addictive plunge into Nesta Archeron’s spiral, her silver-flame power, and the very first sparks (and snarls) of her new… let’s call it arrangement with Cassian.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

We open with a nightmare — Nesta’s memory of being forced into the Cauldron, the death-promise she made to the King of Hybern, and the moment she bit into that ancient magic and took what it didn’t want to give. From there, Part One: Novice thrusts us into the mess she’s made in Velaris: cheap wine, mediocre sex, and a whole lot of self-loathing wrapped in a male’s shirt. Feyre and Rhys finally say what everyone’s been thinking: she’s done tearing herself apart on their dime. Move into the House of Wind. Train with Cassian. Work in the library. Or go back to the human lands. Nesta, unsurprisingly, chooses violence.

Cassian steps in as trainer, babysitter, and long-suffering daddy warrior who absolutely does not have the patience for Nesta’s bullshit — but still can’t help wanting her. Their first days are pure chaos: Nesta publicly humiliating him at Windhaven, Cassian snapping back that she’s not the only one who’s suffered, Mor cutting her to pieces with one brutal line, and the House itself refusing to serve her wine like it’s staging an intervention. But cracks start to show — memories of holding Cassian as he lay dying, her first kind interactions with Emerie and Gwyn, and a bowl of soup the House basically force-feeds her like a protective auntie.

Meanwhile, a storm is brewing outside Nesta’s personal apocalypse: human queens scheming, Eris sniffing around for alliances, soldiers disappearing without a trace, Koschei the deathless stirring in his cursed lake, and Beron aligning himself with the wrong side of history. Cassian knows the danger is growing — and that Nesta, whether she likes it or not, is right in the center of it.

But the biggest spark of these early chapters? The moment Cassian quietly leans down, offers Nesta his hand, and reminds her: keep reaching out yours. A single line that shifts everything — not enough to save her, but enough to make her wonder if she wants to be saved at all.

Let's get into it, Bunchies!

Grab this month’s book: amzn.to/3Er9cuF

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